Lady Eagles advance to District 6-AAA title game

MILL HALL — As the Somerset girls soccer team headed to its bus, Megan Suter had to be smiling.

She made up her mind Monday before her game against Central Mountain that she wanted to score a goal and have a say in the outcome.

Unfortunately for the Lady Wildcats, Suter proved to be the difference maker.

The speedy senior netted a hat trick and helped her team advance to the District 6 Class AAA final by downing Central Mountain 3-1 at McGill Field.

Somerset’s opponent in the title tilt will be State College, a 3-0 winner over Hollidaysburg in the other semifinal game Monday. The championship game will be played Wednesday at Bald Eagle Area High School.

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Suter put a ball into the back of the net twice in the first half and once in the second with the final tally being unassisted.

“Megan scored her 100th goal a couple games ago, so she is our go-to girl,” said Somerset coach Renee Ross, whose team is 18-2 this season. “We can always rely on her. She was just where she needed to be. I can’t believe how well my team played. They played amazing. Megan was just on fire. She got it in her head that she was going to score, and she did amazing.”

Central Mountain (17-1-2) did have more shots than their counterparts, outshooting the Lady Eagles 20-13. But superb goalkeeping by Somerset’s Brandi Tipton kept the Lady Cats out of the net for most of the night.

CM did sneak one past the senior on a penalty kick by Sara Hawksworth with 9:24 remaining in the game. With their season on the line, the Lady ˆCats upped the offensive pressure, but Tipton stayed on track and turned every shot away.

Suter was able to break past CM goalie Amanda Barnes with 13:43 left in the first half after receiving a feed from Maddie McLaughlin. The senior booted the ball diagonally into the back-left corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

“We didn’t really look at (Suter) specifically, because we were trying to do our own thing,” Central Mountain coach Ryan Veltri said. “She found herself in some good situations, and at times, she created opportunities on her own. When you are playing a great game, little things start to work for you, and I think that’s what happened for her. She totally lifted her team, and she had opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net, and she did.”

At 6:19, Suter was at it again.

This time, the goal came on a bit of bad luck for CM, as a shot by Colby Wheeler was actually stopped by Barnes, but the ball slithered out from underneath her. Suter was there to capitalize and give Somerset a two-point advantage.

In the second half, she widened the gap to three after breaking past CM’s back line and sinking the ball deep into the nylon.

Central Mountain did make Somerset hold its breathe more than once before it was all said and done.

Near the 22-minute mark of the second half, Jackie Rodabaugh had consecutive shots on goal scooped up to keep the blue and white scoreless.

Four minutes after CM’s penalty kick, a Lady Wildcat corner was cleared away by Tipton, but Hawksworth caught the rebound and flicked the ball back toward the net, only to have it bounce right into the goalie’s arms.

“I think at one point, she did a front flip,” Ross said of Tipton, who made 10 saves. “She was always on her toes and always ready. I couldn’t be more proud of this entire team. They played so well. Speed definitely helps us a lot. The girls just all worked so well together in this game.

“We knew with hustle and heart that we could do it. That’s what it took, and that is what we did. I don’t know if Somerset has ever been in a final game, but if we have, it’s been a while.”